ARISTOTELOUS SQ. - ΠΛΑΤΕΙΑ ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΟΥΣ

Aristotelous Square, the most renowned city's Square, is the only area in Thessaloniki where Ernest Hébrard's plan was partially implemented after the 1917 Great Fire and covers several square blocks between Egnatia street in the north and Nikis Avenue in the south (includes Vlali-Vatikioti, Ermou, Vassileos Irakliou, Tsimiski and Mitropoleos streets). The facades of most buildings feature a mixture of roman, neoclassical, pseudo-byzantine and pseudo-arabic elements. There are also numerous commercial arcades. The area was built at a rather slow pace because of the huge value of the city centre land and the financial difficulties after the Minor Asia Catastrophe, WWII and the Civil War, thus covering a time span of almost seven decades.Ernest Hébrard (1875 – 1933) was a French architect, archaeologist and urban planner. He is mostly renowned for his plan to reform the city of Thessaloniki.After the Great Fire of 1917 Thessaloniki was largely destroyed. The Greek PM E. Venizelos forbade the reconstruction of the city center until a full modern city plan was approved. This was accomplished by the "Hébrard plan", the plan Hébrard had conceived and developed with the aid of the Greek architects Aristotelis Zahos and Konstantinos Kitsikis.The plan swept away the oriental features of Thessaloniki while preserving its Byzantine heritage and transformed it into a European city.Unfortunately this plan was only partially realized (mostly in Aristotelous Square and in the downtown traditional markets [Bezesteni, Vlali, Vatikioti]) due to reactions of the local landowners.Hébrard was also involved in several other projects, such as the upgrading of Casablanca, the restoration of Diocletian's palace at Split and urban planning for several towns in French Indochina, where he became head of the Indochina Architecture and Town Planning Service in 1923. His idea was to incorporate into French architecture elements of indigenous design from the colonial territories of Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos. In 1931 he returned to Paris where he died two years later.References: WikipediaAaron Mois Building (ca 1931, plans by Max. Roubens, 9 Aristotelous str.),Aelion-Rousso-Bollo Building (ca 1959, 30 Aristotelous & Egnatia str.),ATE Building (=Agricultural Bank of Greece) (ca 1926, 13 Aristotelous str.),Bilias Building (ca 1953, 6 Aristotelous str.),ELTA Building (=Greek Postal Service) (ca 1970, 26 Aristotelous str.),ETE Building (=National Bank of Greece) (ca 19..., 17 Aristotelous str.),Hotel Electra Palace (ca 1962, plans by F. Vokos & Ar. Konstandinidis & G. Triandafilidis),Ifiyenia Building (ca 1958, 12-14 Aristotelous str.),IKA Building (=Social Security Fund)(ca 1967, 15 Aristotelous str.),Industrial Chamber's Building (ca 1934, 25-27 Aristotelous & Vlali str.),Klaoudatos Building (ca 1930, 19 Aristotelous str.),Olympion Residence (ca 1939-1948, plans by Jacques Moshe, 10 Aristotelous Square),O.S.E. Building (ca 1929, 18 Aristotelous str.),Rondiri Building (ca 1936, 23 Aristotelous str.),Skaperda Building (ca 1931, 4 aristotelous str.),Tsakridzi Building (ca 1928, 29 Aristotelous str.),Vosporos Residence (ca 1922, plans by A. Paikos, 8 Aristotelous str.), [vide Paikos]X (ca 1936, 20 Aristotelous str.),X1 (ca 1958, 22 Aristotelous str., plans by Thomas Makriyorgos),x2 (ca 1950, 11 Aristotelous str.)